If You Were There
by cinderstellabella
Summary: Collaboration between Kate-Emma & cinderstellabella! What if Moose really did show up the night of the Halloween dance? Moosille with a hint of Luke/Natalie
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** The authors of this fiction claim no ownership of 'Step Up'… even if they did wish for it on their birthday cakes!

**A/N:** It's collaboration time people! Woo hoo! This is cinderstellabella and Kate-Emma here. We hope you like what we're going to try and bring you – an alternate universe piece. What would have happened if Moose had forsaken Luke and went to the Halloween Dance after all? It's the big 'what if' and here's hoping it brings you some answers.

Kate-Emma is up first (be afraid) so stay tuned! Oh, and enjoy…

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If You Were There…

Moose/Camille and Natalie/Luke

Step Up 3D

Rated: K+

Drama/Romance

Chapter One;

All In My Head

_"Camille, you coming?"_

_She glanced up slowly from her phone. "Soon, Moose is running late, but he'll be here shortly." Kristen nodded and left with the others as Camille looked back at the phone sadly._

_"Cam?"_

_"Oh Cam," his voice awoke her from her sleep and she looked up from snoozing at his study desk to find Moose stand over her, a frown etched to his face. She angered quickly. What right had he to look like that? Feel sorry for her? She didn't need his pity…_

_"Save it Moose, I don't need to know." She stood and grabbed her coffee cup, sunglasses and shrug._

_"Camille?"_

_"I've been dancing Cam. Before, during and after school."_

_She was standing in the doorway now, her eyes prickling from the earliest onset of tears. "So you've been lying to me too?" He looked to the floor. "Why couldn't you just tell me?"_

_"It's over now."_

_She nodded determinedly. "You're right, it's over now…"_

A soft shake of her shoulder awoke Camille from her dreams and she looked up to find Moose standing beside her desk sporting straight hair and the ugliest silver shirt she'd ever seen. She cracked a slight smile but it disappeared when she remembered the dream. "What are you doing here?"

"Cam," he smiled that usually goofy smile, "it's the Halloween Dance remember?" He pushed a small hunk of hair off her forehead. "You poor sleepy little Chameleon."

Camille chuckled; covering how momentarily uncomfortable she'd felt at his caring touch, then let the dream wash over her again. "Uh, Moose, can I ask you something?" He was distracted now by a snow globe on Camille's desk, one of many small things Cam had come across in the college shops when she was trying to ignore the fact that her best friend had gone AWOL on her, and just gave a small grunt. She glanced at him for a minute. He looked tired; really tired actually, but there was something about him that she hadn't seen since, well, since he'd been dancing in high school actually. But then… no, he wouldn't. During their senior year they'd planned for the future, facing it together, and vowed to leave high school things behind them…

He looked up when she didn't say anything and his left eyebrow lowered in an animated way.

Typical Moose. Goofy, sweet and always honest Moose. Her best friend. Her confidant. The guy she'd been in love with for over two years now. He wouldn't lie to her. It would do her no good to ask.

"I wanted to know if you had the lights off when you dressed yourself tonight." He feigned hurt as she just laughed. "Just to make sure the power's not out in your dorm."

"Wow, one hour of straightening my hair and this is what I get?" He sniffed but he wasn't the best actor she knew and it only made her laugh harder. "Alright you cold, cold woman, you ready to get to the dance?" He stood and offered her his arm, his elbow crooked to accept hers.

She failed to hold back the enthusiasm as she jumped to her feet and took it from him. "Let's roll."

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A girl had waylaid Luke's best ally that night, but he didn't blame Moose for choosing his best friend over his new one, he himself was being sent to the other side of town for the exact same reason. That afternoon when he'd received Natalie's text he'd been more than confused, sure she'd left and would never return, but now she was holding a birthday party in one of the flashiest places in town? It just didn't add up. He tried calling her again as the taxi pulled up outside the hotel, but again no answer, so Luke thrust ten dollars at the driver and got out, not waiting for his change.

He realised he needn't have hurried as the moment he got to the doorway he was stopped by some pompous jerk holding a clipboard. "Invitation?"

"Uh," Luke fished out his phone. "I got it on my phone."

The guy looked at Luke in a way that suggested Luke had something more along the lines of 'my catfish just baked me a cake' rather than something rather reasonable. Obviously phone invitations weren't kosher in this part of town. "Stand over there please and wait." He shuffled to the side as the usher-type guy let in people better dressed and clearly much better off than Luke. Obviously they didn't live in a warehouse that was about to be repossessed.

Their loss.

He was leaning against the wall behind him wondering if he was about to get escorted out by security when he saw it – the rack of jackets and trousers sitting just inside the kitchen doorway. With one last look at the busy clipboard guy, he grabbed a suit and slid into the bathrooms nearby.

Alright guys, review time! Tell us what you think! cinderstellabella's up next, so stay tuned!


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright guys, it's cinderstellabella's turn! Sorry this chapter is so long overdue, I had like three versions started and couldn't decide which one to go with, and I just moved into college. But anyways, Kate-Emma and I hope you enjoy chapter 2!**

**Disclaimer: We do not own anything. Except the plot.**

**Enjoy!**

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Camille basically dragged Moose to the party. She was so excited to spend time with him, and also for her friends to spend more time with him. Maybe she could get them to all be friends so he would start spending more time at the dorm. As they opened the door to the party, they got a giant waft of beer mixed with pumpkins. Camille craned her neck, looking around the party to try and spot Kristin and Jenny. When she spotted them, she grabbed Moose by the arm and made a beeline towards the two.

"Seriously guys. Who are all these people?" Camille threw her arms out, referencing towards the large crowd that had accumulated in the common room. "I don't know anyone. I feel like i've never even seen half these people before...maybe Moose and I should just go."

Jenny rolled her eyes and huffed, clearly irritated with Camille's comment. "Lighten up. You coop yourself up in that dorm room and you don't come out except with us. Go meet some people!" Jenny said excitedly, and Melissa added "Maybe even a guy!" and wiggled her eyebrows. Camille rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

Moose had just been awkwardly standing there for a while, and he finally decided to step in.

"Come on Cammie. Let's go get something to drink." He slung his arm around her shoulders and Camille confusingly obliged. When they got out of earshot, Moose spoke up. "If you don't like them, why do you put up with them?"

Camille whirled around, knocking him off balance. She narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips.

"Did you seriously just ask me that question?" She paused for a moment, but not long enough for him to respond. "You've been AWOL ever since we got here, Moose. I had to find other people to hang out with. I wasn't just about to sit around and wait for you to make time for me. I've always done that. But were in a new place, with a new start. I'm going to make the best of it." She smiled proudly, happy that she finally gave him a piece of her mind.

Moose hesitated for a second before speaking. "Cam, I really didn't mean to. Honest. I just...I feel like there's a lot we need to talk about, and I want to tell you. But not here. We're here to have fun, and that's what we're going to do. We can talk later." He put his arm out for her to grab, and her shoulders dropped in defeat as she snaked her arm through his.

"Alright, alright. But you're not getting off that easy! We're going to talk. Don't think you got yourself out of it, Robert." She smirked, and pulled him back to her friends.

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Luke stepped in the room, mind set on finding Natalie. Everyone had masks on, so obviously it was a little more difficult than usual. Regardless, he spotted her immediately. Her long, brown hair, her arms hanging gracefully by her sides, her smile. Everything about her was familiar to him.

Before he could even think he felt his body walking towards her. But the dance had begun. He grabbed a place in line and danced with the girl across from him.

The girl was beaming at him, and clinging to him for dear life, but he spun her off of him and somehow made it to Natalie. They danced with so much passion, everyone in the room was drawn to watching them. When the dance ended, she led him upstairs to talk.

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**There you have it! Hope you guys liked it. Kinda short, I know. But bear with me. I'm still getting a hang of this whole balancing college with the rest of my life thing :) We would love reviews! Stay tuned, Kate-Emma's up next!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: Hey guys, sorry it took forever to get this up but been brimming with ideas for just about everything but this! lol. You know how it goes. Anyway, my turn now, so let's see how far I can drag this into the ground!

Oh yeah, cinderstellabella and I still don't own Step Up… unless it's selling then we might be interested. I have A$10, who wants to contribute?

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The inane chatter of Camille's friends and the overpowering stink of pumpkins wasn't exactly Moose's idea of fun, but he had promised so he smiled through. If it had been anyone other than Camille he would've bailed, but he had been neglecting her a lot lately, he knew that, so he'd deal with it. It was his punishment for being a bad friend.

That said, he still hadn't told her about the dancing so maybe it was really a way to clear his conscience without being totally truthful?

He wasn't sure why he was hesitant to tell Cam about the dancing, it wasn't like she'd try and stop him, but something told him not to. He guessed it was because it was the first time in a while that he'd done something without discussing it with his best friend first. Since they'd become friends back in high school they'd almost always run things past one another, Moose's exception being dating Sophie which Camille had disliked immensely, telling him he was stupid and refusing to talk to him for two weeks. It turned out she was right to judge when Sophie was revealed to be a cheater. Moose's dancing and his easy-going demeanour had lured her in but when she got past that she couldn't deal with the quirks and nerd underneath. She didn't get a chance to dump him because he got in first after Cable revealed she'd made a move on him. Of course before he dumped her he went straight to Camille and asked for her help. With a sly unreadable smile she'd told him exactly what to say.

But now he'd made another impulsive decision without telling Camille and he worried it would be another horrendous one. Plus, as much as he hated hiding things from her, he'd been doing it for a while now and telling her would only hurt her more. Why hadn't he told her right at the start?

Moose smacked his palm to his face, causing the two girls beside him to glance at him with a frown. Kristin seemed to have a frown constantly plastered to her face, had since Moose had stolen her friend out from under her for the dance, but for Jenny it was a new look. She glanced at Moose, back to Kristin and then over at Camille who was now standing at the nibbles table agonising over a plate of small sausage rolls or mini quiches. Knowing Camille like Moose did, she'd eventually give up and go for the diplomatic approach of taking one of each, but for now she was frowning like the choice would actually affect humanity. When he looked back at Jenny she was smiling softly. "So, Moose, what's your story then?"

Moose had sensed from the first time he met Jenny at Camille's impromptu charades tournament that she was the meddling kind, and from the look on her face he sensed he was her new target, so decided to avoid the question. "Gosh, how awful is this music eh?"

Kristin turned up her nose. "Excuse me, I helped pick it."

Moose gave a slightly nervous laugh. "Oh, yeah, I mean, not the ones you picked…" giving a tight smile he slid past them muttering something like 'ooh, starving' and headed straight for Camille. "Help please, Kristin wants to kill me and Jenny wants my life story."

Camille frowned, putting one sausage roll and one mini quiche on her plate at the same time. "I'm sure she doesn't want to kill you. Maybe just physically harm you to the point of hospitalization." She looked up at him. "Stop being a drama queen."

"I'm bored!" He whined like a little child. "Can't we go back to the old Halloween tradition of eating McDonalds behind bushes and throwing tomatoes at anyone who walks past?"

Camille sighed dramatically. "We're not sixteen anymore Moose, and also, that's a waste of tomatoes." She gave him a smile. "Why don't you try a quiche," she handed him one and he took it slowly, "and just try talking to Kristin and Jenny? I'm sure you'll find some common ground if you try."

"Or, you could dance with me, after I find a decent song that is."

"After you 'find a decent song'? Oh Moose, you didn't tell Kristin these songs were awful did you?" He gave a mute nod, trying to do his best puppy dog face. "Wow, you're not very good at this are you?"

"Dance with me! Come on, you know you want to."

"No Moose," Camille warned, biting into her sausage roll.

Moose put the quiche down, undeterred. "I'll find a decent song and then I'll make you dance with me," he raised an eyebrow. "You have been warned." And with that he disappeared into the crowd. With a sigh Camille picked up her plate and headed back to Kristin and Jenny.

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"I thought I'd never see you again." Natalie couldn't believe she was looking at Luke right now. When she'd left the Vault, run away, she thought she'd lost him. She was torn, half of her wanting to explain and the other hoping he'd forget her so she wouldn't have to reveal her true identity. When Julian had asked her to go undercover with the Pirates she hadn't expected to fall for Luke. Natalie had always been the silent and obedient type of her family, the little one who stood back and watched when her parents fought, the one who wanted to know nothing more than if it would all be alright. She was devastated when it wasn't. There was nothing cruel or complicated about her, the little girl who thought faeries made flowers bloom in spring and that the most beautiful thing in the world was a sunset, the one who danced because it made her mother smile and who would run for hours just because she liked the feel of the wind in her hair. But then Julian had convinced her to go undercover for him and that innocence was lost. She was a sneak, a spy, and a louse. Luke had seen the real her, the side that came out when she danced – the sweet, confident but still a little lost real Natalie.

"I finished it. I wanted you to see." Luke removed from his pocket a small clear case and inside sat a disc. Natalie read the title with a smile.

"You did it?" She caught his eye and he smiled. "Oh, I knew you could." She hugged him then, mainly because she was proud of him but also because she wanted desperately to pretend that nothing had changed. Just for those few seconds, the moments before she told him the truth, she could remind him of her. The real her.

Julian ruined it. "Ah, Luke you came?" Natalie and Luke both looked up into the sneering face of the blonde behind him. "I'm glad you got my text."

Natalie's shoulders fell. When Luke had first captured her hand on the dance floor she'd hoped it was some twist of fate, that something had brought him here that was pure and innocent, something like their love. Instead it was her conniving elder brother. The magic died. "You?" Luke frowned at him and then back at Natalie. "What's going on?"

"I invited you here so you could come celebrate my little sister's birthday." Julian smiled coldly. "Surprise."

"Luke, please," tears started to well in Natalie's eyes as she saw the realization dawn across Luke's handsome face. His jaw clenched as he frowned down at Natalie. "Please, I, let me explain…" but he turned and left, stalking away with his fists clenched tight. Natalie looked back at Julian. "How could you? It was my place to tell him."

"Oh come on Nat, he's a waste…" she cut him off when she shoved him aside, something sharp catching him in the chest. He caught her arm and pulled her back, snatching the CD case off her. "What's this?"

"Give it to me." Natalie clawed for it, trying to take it back, but Julian was taller and held it away from her. "Julian!"

"Enough of this little sister, you're a Samurai, or have you forgotten that?" He dropped the CD to the ground and stamped on it, breaking it in half and leaving the case in shattered pieces on the red-carpeted floor. "Go home, talk to mom, and I'll see you in the morning."

Natalie looked up from the broken case, her chest heaving from held back sobs, and then she gathered her breath and turned and walked away. Julian just picked up the two halves of the CD and, giving his sister's retreating figure one look, hurried after Luke.

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Alright guys, you know what to do! We love reviews, and by the way x-Whizzified-Magic-x, we so appreciate your support through this whole story! So yeah, cinderstellabella's up next!


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! I'm sorry this is so delayed, but I've been really sick and I'm just now feeling myself again. But anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!**

**Oh and just a little author's note, this chapter is kind of the "I Won't Dance" scene, only at the Halloween party. So try to envision the dance happening indoors.**

**Disclaimer: Neither I or Kate-Emma own the wonderful franchise of Step Up. Still.**

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"Your man is crazy, Camille. Look at him go!" Jenny motioned to the dance floor where Moose was dancing. The crowd had formed a circle around him, certainly not seeing this kind of dancing, or him before. Kristin, on the other hand, did not seem impressed. She inspected her nails and added, "he's alright."

Camille looked over to where the crowd was and instantly focused in on her best friend. She loved the way he went into a whole other world while he was dancing; like there was nothing but him and the music. She sighed heavily and turned back around.

"He's not 'my man', Jen. We're best friends. That's it. All we're ever gonna be." The spark in Camille's eyes faded a little, and her two friends understood.

Jenny placed a hand on her shoulder and frowned, knowing what was going on. Ever since Moose had been mysteriously disappearing on her, she had taken to confiding in the two. They knew the whole story, even the part where Camille had fallen madly in love with him.

"Camille, he'll come around. They always do." Kristin patted her friend's back awkwardly to console her. Camille, however, knew they were just trying to be nice, hoping she wouldn't mope around for the rest of the night and ruin the mood.

"Guys, you don't have..." Before she could finished her sentence, she heard a rather familiar voice come through the speakers. Her eyes widened and she turned to see Moose standing at the DJ station, holding the mic. He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly before speaking.

"Uh, hey. So, uh, I'm not very good at this type of thing. But there's someone I need to apologize to." Her eyes softened as they met his, and he smiled that smile she'd grown to love.

"Cam, I'm so sorry. I know I have a lot to make up for, but I'm hopin' this is a start." He moved his hand over to the turntables, and a loud, jazz tempo song filled the room. He looked towards her, seeing her confused face, and then seeing the realization dawn on her.

'_Holy crap.' _She thought, and stayed rooted to the spot despite the fact that he was waving her over to the dance floor. She saw him start to make his way towards her and didn't even realize when he was standing right in front of her. He grabbed her hands in his, trying to pull her to dance, but she stood her ground.

"Chameleon, please dance with me. It's our song! Just like old times when we were paired together and you kept stepping on my feet." She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in and laughed. She looked into his eyes, seeing the pleading look, and gave in.

"Alright, drama queen. Lemme just take these stupid shoes off." She held onto his shoulder and took of each shoe, throwing them at Jenny who caught them with ease. Jenny winked at her friend, and Camille rolled her eyes at her.

He took her hand in his and lead her into the middle of the circle as the song started over.

They started off with a waltz, the dance they'd learned in third grade during gym. He placed one hand on her waist as she placed her's on his shoulder, and he raised their intertwined hands.

They stared into each other's eyes and he spun her around the room, softly singing the words to her. _'I won't dance, madame with you, my heart won't let my feet do the things that they should do.'_ She smiled at him, closing her eyes and taking in the moment.

Just as she rested her head on his chest, the DJ mixed it up a bit, and all of a sudden the classic was turned into a remix. She could tell he planned this, and she loved him for it. He knew how much she missed dancing, and he also knew that if anyone could get her into street dancing again, it was him.

She knew the routine well; they had done it in a talent show in sixth grade. They incorporated their waltz, street moves, and some tap they had picked up. She loved it, it was by far her favorite routine they had ever done together.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her across the room, stealing some kid's hat in the process, although he didn't seem to mind too much.

Moose pulled a flower out of a centerpiece and handed it to her, Camille took it and rolled her eyes in response. Just as they reached the exit to the gym, he threw a hand out to stop her, and pulled out some tap moves. She straightened her back and smirked, doing the tap part of the routine that she remembered.

They danced straight out the door and into the hallway, the crowd following them. They stopped to drum on some recycling bins, grabbing the lids and putting them on their feet, dancing on them with ease. An RA came into the hallway, clearly upset she was woken up, and threatened to call the front desk. They tossed the lids aside and ran in the other direction through the crowd.

They found their way to the common room and flipped over the couch with ease, dancing on the other side as the crowd found them. They grabbed two pieces of art work off the wall and hopped on the pool table, putting the pieces in front of them so all you saw was their flailing legs. The crowd erupted in cheers again, loving their dance.

Moose hopped off the table first and helped Camille down, dragging her to the staircase to the second floor, both of them taking the steps two at a time to the top.

Camille danced first, motioning to Moose when she was done. The two descended the stairs again and jumped into the crowd, hoping that they would be caught, which they were.

They laughed as the crowd set them down, and the two slowed their moves.

She looped her arm through his, skipping alongside him. They parted ways down two different hallways on the way back to the gym, and Camille had taken to doing some classic moves she remembered from swing dancing.

They both clicked their heels in the air, finally meeting at the end of the hallway.

Moose swung his arm out, hat in hand, dramatically as they made their way in the door to the gym. Camille giggled and grabbed the hat from his grip.

He turned around abruptly and grabbed her hand, twirling her to him, and dipped her, just as someone from above the gym dropped some leaves left over from the fall dance.

The crowd cheered, louder than they had before. People they had never even met praised them, and Jenny and Kristin gave them a thumbs up.

The two best friends laughed heartily and picked the leaves off of each other, Moose catching her hand in his.

"I really am sorry, Cam." The smile on his face faded, replaced by a serious look. She tightened her grip.

"Moose, you were born to dance. Don't apologize for it." He looked at her with a confused look, and she smiled.

"I know you, Moose. It's impossible for you to keep things from me. I can read you like a book. You glow when you've been dancing. And you've been glowing for the past month." He pulled her towards him, hugging her body to his.

"I wanna tell you everything, Cam," he whispered in her ear, "we'll talk later. It's too loud here. But let's just enjoy the rest of the party." He laced his fingers through her's, both of them blushing at the contact, and made their way back to the crowd to face the thousands of questions they were sure were going to be thrown at them.

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**Okay, so in my school, there's a gym attached to the dorm. So we're gonna say that their's was too. I hope you guys got the whole dance scene, cause I'm awful at writing dance. I'm either too vague, or I use the technical names because I'm a dancer, and then no one understands. But anyway, I hope you guys liked it, and Kate-Emma's up next!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** cinderstellabella and I just came up with the perfect way to claim ownership of the Step Up franchise. It involves a donkey named Lucas, an orange and three hula-hoops. We'll tell you how it goes. Until then, we still don't own it.

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Luke couldn't pinpoint the exact feeling he had inside. There was a mix of betrayal, anger, hurt and of course the overwhelming urge to punch some smug blonde git squarely between the eyes. He was managing to hold the last one back for now, though he knew it wouldn't take much to set him off, since right now he was wired up to dynamite and the connection was unstable.

Julian couldn't help but press the trigger. "Hey movie star." Luke glanced back and saw Julian holding his broken DVD and case in his outstretched palm. "Forget something?"

"Where do you get off Julian?" Luke growled, stopping and giving Julian the confrontation he so desperately wanted. "First betting against the Pirates and now this? Do you even care about anyone other than yourself? Do you even care about Natalie?"

"Oh give up, she was playing you you idiot, how are you not keeping up with this?"

"I'm keeping up quite fine actually. Want me to summarise? You're a tool," he paused. "Oh no wait, that's all of it."

Julian gave a smug laugh. "Oh, joking through the pain. That's beautiful. You brave little trooper you."

"I'm going home Julian. We'll see you at the World Jam in three weeks."

Julian gave another laugh. "Going home? Oh, you don't know yet do you?" Luke stopped. "Yeah, about an hour ago I got a call, I won my bid – for the Vault. Bank foreclosed and put it straight up. I got a nice early bid in. So it looks like you won't be going home after all."

Anger bubbled to the surface then. He saw in his mind the faces of Jacob, the Ticks, Jason, Anala, the Santiago Twins, Carlos… where would they all go now? "How could you?" His hands balled into fists but Julian didn't notice, just giving another smug shrug. "To use me, to use your own sister, that's one thing, but these people don't have anywhere else to go."

"Well, they should've thought it through when they allied with you."

"You're going to make a group of good, young people, who just want somewhere to dance, homeless all just to get back at me?"

Julian shrugged. "We all make mistakes I guess. I'll offer them a place in the Samurais. How about that?" He got his answer quickly after that when Luke pounced, knocking him to the floor so Luke's broken DVD went flying. For the first few moments Julian was stunned but then he gathered himself and grabbed Luke's collar, trying to push him off, all without success. "Do something stupid Luke, do it, I dare you. Of course I'll also have you arrested. I wonder how the Pirates will be homeless, leaderless and footing a massive bail payment?"

"Julian!"

Both men looked up at the figure in the doorway. It was Natalie. The young man standing beside her, someone she'd been dancing with before Luke entered, was next to her. He'd obviously informed her of what was happening. Julian scowled up at her. "Go away Natalie. This doesn't concern you."

"Of course it concerns me. It's all about me!" She glowered, her expression both terrible and beautiful, and her eyes still glazed with tears. Luke pulled away from Julian, unsure what to do or say, but knowing he hated seeing Natalie like this. Her neck moved at the base as she swallowed deeply and gathered up the courage to say what came next. "Luke, get up and go home, now!"

Luke moved to stand, but it seemed to trigger more spite from Julian. "Luke doesn't have a home anymore sis. All because of you."

She rose then, to her full height of fury, preparing to unleash everything she had pent up on her brother, but then the guy next to her touched her arm and she breathed out. "Julian, just get out of here, before I do something I'll regret."

Julian slid out from under Luke and pushed himself to his feet, dusting himself off and straightening his jacket he walked towards his sister. Luke stood too and watched as he pushed right up into Natalie's personal space and whispered something Luke couldn't hear. Immediately Natalie angered and moved to slap Julian right across the face but he was quicker, grabbing her wrist. "Now now," he tapped her cheek with his other hand. "There's no need to bring any of the uncouth moves you learnt at the Pirates back here."

"I hate you." Natalie growled, her tears flowing again. "I hate you for what you made me do."

Julian just grinned. "I didn't make you do anything Natalie – you were always a vindictive little co…"

Luke didn't need to hear the rest. He'd heard enough already. "Hey, Julian." Julian turned to face Luke just in time to collect his punch squarely in the right cheek.

…

His right shoulder burned where an over-enthusiastic young policeman had practically ripped it from his arm, and his collarbone ached after being strapped into the police car too tight by the same young officer, but on the whole Luke wasn't doing too bad. Aside from the fact, that was, that he was now sitting behind bars in a very cold and very quiet local police station.

"You're lucky it's a slow night," the officer, his badge reading McNeill, said as he handed Luke a cup of very milky white tea. "Otherwise you might be sharing a cell with some of those stereotypical bad guys you see on the cop shows."

"I'm guessing that's what you signed up for – not arresting some guy at a snobby uptown birthday party." Luke muttered, sipping the tea and realising it was just as cold as it looked.

"Assault is assault, no matter how you pin it." He glanced up at the door at the end of the cells. "Your friend should be here soon."

"We don't have the bail officer, don't even have two dollar notes to rub together, so I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

McNeill smiled. "Great. We can pass a slow night together. How good are you at Sodoku?" At that a buzzer rang at the front of the station and McNeill left, closing the cell door behind him. Luke sighed and leant back against the wall behind him, scuffing the cold grey cement floor with his foot. This was one monumental stuff-up, that was for sure, and now Luke wondered what would have happened had Moose come along and not gone back to school to ready himself for the party?

Well, one option was that he wouldn't be alone…

"Grey is not your colour my friend." Jacob's thick Afrikaans accent floated through the bars of the cell door and Luke looked up at his old ally. "And let me guess – you are innocent." He gave a smile.

Luke shook his head. "Oh no, I don't deny punching that arrogant jerk squarely in the mouth." He looked over at McNeill who was standing next to Jacob. "I've been a model prisoner right officer?"

"You're just lucky you didn't break Mr. Walker's jaw." He gave Jacob a nod and then opened the cell door, walking away. Jacob walked in slowly, shaking his head at Luke.

"What?" Jacob lowered an eyebrow. "It was worth it Jacob. You didn't see him. Honestly, you would've done it too."

"$3000 worth of 'worth it' Luke?" He waved a hand, ignoring the numbers he'd just put out there. "Forget it, we'll find a way, the point is you're right to go now."

Luke frowned, thinking about the bail. "How did you…"

Jacob answered quickly. "Natalie paid the bail. Said it was the least she could do." He took a seat across from Luke. "What happened? What made you so mad?"

"She's Julian's sister." He shook his head slowly. "I knew he had a sister, he mentioned her back when he was a Pirate, but he never said her name. I just, I should've known, I should've checked her out. I didn't even ask her for her last name."

"She told me it was Walker." Jacob said slowly. "But it's such a common name I didn't even connect it to Julian. If I knew and didn't realise, how could you know, how can you blame yourself?"

"Because I'm in charge, which makes it my fault. Just like it's my fault that the Vault is gone." Jacob glanced up. "Yeah, Julian took great delight in telling me."

"I grabbed a few things before it was repossessed. They're in your car now. Natalie drove me here in it. Took the keys from you when you were arrested."

Luke nodded slowly. "I remember now. She went through my pockets. I thought s…" he checked his pockets but they were empty. "Oh right, I had to log everything in when I was arrested." He slumped. "Is she still here?"

"She left as soon as we got here. Gave me the keys then ran off. But she did want me to tell you she was sorry."

"Oh yes, for what exactly? For lying? Using us? Or selling me down the river and then running away?" The anger returned, but this time it was at himself. How could he have been so stupid? Why had he been so easily blinded by Natalie? Okay so her laugh was musical, her love of dance overpowering and she had a habit of sticking her finger between her two front teeth when she was nervous that Luke thought was just so…

He stopped.

She'd got to him so bad. It had to stop now.

"Can we get out of here? I don't know what happens next, but I just want to go now, forget this happened."

They headed to the front desk where McNeill stood waiting, two forms before him. He informed Luke that he would need to return in two weeks for a court hearing, should Julian continue with the charges, where he would be handed his punishment. McNeill assured him that with his clean record he was looking at a minimal fine or community service if he pleaded guilty. Luke just took it with a nod. Then, unlocking his bottom drawer, McNeill pulled out a plastic bag. Inside were Luke's things.

As his belongings were pushed towards him he saw it. It was a small card, more like a place card than anything, and his name was scrawled on the front over 'Pete', which had been crossed out. He realised it WAS a place card, from the party, and opened it quickly. Inside it read 'Everything you need to know about me is in my dancing'. The first thing she'd said when he asked her why she danced. He sighed and pocketed the note, deciding he'd work through the cryptic message later, then let Jacob usher him back to the car.

"Where to now?" Jacob asked, sliding into the driver's seat.

Luke just shrugged. "The Vault is gone, the Pirates are dead, and all I have is memories." He glanced at his laptop and camera in the back seat. "I honestly don't know where to go from here."

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**A/N:** I'm so excited by more reviews! But then they were cinderstellabella's reviews. So please, come give MY chapter more reviews so I can rub it in cinderstellabella's face! mwah ha ha! Anyway, she's up next so stay tuned!


	6. Chapter 6

**I know, I know, I'm awful at updating. Don't hate me too much!**

**Disclaimer: Kate-Emma and I still don't own anything. It seems impossible to find a donkey these days...**

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"Dude, that was sick!" A boy Camille recognized from her english class gave her a slap on the back, and she smiled, feeling Moose's grip on her hand tighten. She glanced at him and gave him a questioning look before refocusing her attention back on her peer.

"Thanks, Nick. I try." She beamed at the boy and he laughed, shaking his head before heading for the refreshments.

Camille turned to her best friend, squinting at him and smirking.

"Jealous, much?"

Moose rolled his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, a nervous habit he'd seem to frequent whenever he was around Camille lately. He'd never thought of her as more than a friend, but now...she was just different to him. Before he got too lost in his thoughts, though, he felt his hand being tugged and noticed they were moving towards Cam's friends.

"Well Ms. Camille, _Alexander_," Kristin smirked, "who would've known that of all people, _you _two had rhythm?"

"Yeah, Camille, why didn't you tell us?" Jenny widened her eyes at her friend, offended Camille hadn't been totally honest with the two.

Just as Camille opened her mouth to respond, she heard a familiar ringtone.

"_You know I know how, to make 'em stop and stare as I zone out..."_

Camille frowned as Moose pulled away, her hand instantly going cold as the warmth left.

She eyed him carefully as he spoke in hushed tones into his phone, feeling that familiar pang in her stomach. This is where he took off, leaving her out of his plans yet again. She respected his privacy, but he'd never kept secrets from her. Not this long, anyway.

"Sorry guys." Camille came back into reality and looked at the ground, waiting for him to make some stupid excuse as to why he was departing so suddenly.

"But Camille and I gotta jet." Her head snapped up to look at him, scanning his eyes. He nodded at her and she smiled, understanding what was unsaid.

The pair took off towards the door, and Camille turned around to see the confused faces on the friends they left in their wake. '_Eh, whatever,' _Camille thought, _'I'll explain it all to them tomorrow.'_

Moose lead Camille back to his dorm to change. He really didn't think she'd be comfortable in her costume outside. It was freezing. And to be honest, he was jealous of all the guys that kept gawking at her all night.

He unlocked the door and lead her inside, going straight for the dresser and throwing some sweatpants and a sweatshirt at her. She caught them and went into the bathroom to change as he pulled out his phone.

Moose collapsed on his bed and scrolled down through his contacts, pressing 'send' when he reached the name he'd been looking for. It rang twice, and then a frantic voice came through the speaker.

"Moose?" He ran a hand through his curls, sighing as he answered.

"What is it, Natalie? You called at a really bad time." He was growing a bit agitated with her. She ran, breaking Luke's heart in the process, and she has the gall to call him? On top of that, she knew tonight was the Halloween dance with Camille, and how much he needed to be there to make everything up to her.

"Jacob just bailed Luke outta jail. I can't tell you specifics right now, you can hear it from them. But I'm pretty sure they'll be on their way to get you. Or at least find you. I just need you to do one thing for me. Please." He heard her uneven breathing, an indication she had been crying. He slumped his shoulders, realizing that now was not the time to be rude towards her.

"Alright. What is it?" He heard her take a deep, ragged breath before letting out a soft cry.

"Tell him...tell him that no matter what, it was real. My feelings for him weren't fake. Falling for him wasn't part of the plan. But I really gotta go now, Moose. Just make sure he knows." He didn't even have a chance to say goodbye before the line went dead.

Moose threw his phone next to him on the bed and let out a frustrated grunt, running his hands up and down his face. What the hell was going on?

"Whose Natalie?" His head snapped up in the direction of the bathroom. He hadn't even heard the door open, nor had he noticed Camille standing there with her arms crossed, a solemn expression on her face.

"I have a lot to explain to you, and I don't know how long I have to explain it. But I will. Just hold on, I gotta call someone." She made her way over to him and sat herself on the floor next to his legs.

Moose searched for the phone he threw and upon finding it, pressed a few buttons and raised it to his ear.

"Moose, man, whats up?" Moose rolled his eyes, knowing Luke was trying to cover up whatever was going on.

"Shut it, Luke. I know something's up." He heard a muffled voice in the background, knowing it was Jacob, and then a car horn.

"Great, you guys are already in the car. Where do you want us to meet you?" He heard Luke chuckle.

"We? I take it you fixed it with Camille, then." He heard Jacob say 'It's about time,' and then slam on the horn, yelling at a red light.

"Yeah, I did. I'm not leaving her out anymore. But back to my question, where do you wanna meet?"

"We'll come get you. Just get outside the dorm. We don't have much time, and we gotta find the others." The two said their goodbyes and Moose hung up, looking down to face his best friend.

She smiled up at him, rising from the floor to look at him properly.

"Explain later. You let me back in your life, that's all I need to know." Moose, too, rose to his feet, hugging her and kissing her forehead. Both blushed at the intimate gesture, but quickly broke apart, remembering Luke and Jacob would be arriving soon.

"Alright, partner in crime. Let's go!"

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**Alright, review time! We totally appreciate being on people's favorites list, but it would mean a lot if you guys could take the time to review, too. We wanna know what you guys think. Kate-Emma's up next!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** The monkey stole our ownership of Step Up and sent it back to Jon Chu. The monkey will pay with his life soon!

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The car ride back was silent as Jacob drove and Luke just wound down the passenger window and stared out into the night sky. New York was all lit up around him, the bright city lights that drew people to this fine city flashing away advertisements for the inane and news articles about the irrelevant. Luke saw everything as a multi-coloured blur, his eyes glazed over with memories as he tried to think back to everything he'd seen and heard the last 24 hours, the things he wanted to remember and to forget. The dance, where he thought he'd won Natalie back, and then Julian and jail and…

He stopped, reached into his pocket, and pulled out the place card, re-reading the words inside. 'Everything you need to know about me is in my dancing'. He formed the words in his head again, her voice saying them to him as if it were the day they filmed it again. Her voice was so damn clear in his head.

"What are you thinking?" Jacob asked through the silence. Luke glanced up but noticed Jacob hadn't taken his eyes off the road at all and it seemed like he hadn't spoken, the voice just inside Luke's head. But then Jacob's lips moved and he repeated the question.

Luke frowned. "I don't know yet." Glancing behind him at the video equipment Jacob had saved he was about to turn around and grab them when his phone buzzed and he pulled it out, glancing at the name. "Moose."

"What will you tell him?" Jacob asked, his tone as close and dry as usual.

Luke frowned. "I don't know." After a few seconds of staring he flipped it open. "Moose, man, what's up?" His voice rose in his trademark laidback tone but he knew the slight distress was evident beneath it.

Moose seemed to hear it. "Shut it Luke, I know something's up."

"He's on to you isn…" Jacob stopped as a car pulled out in front of him from nowhere. He hit the horn.

"Great, you guys are already in the car? Where do you want us to meet you?"

Despite the grave situation facing him, Luke actually laughed, the controlling and angry tone Moose had adopted broken by the realisation he'd finally done something for his own good. He'd finally let his girl back in. "We? I take it you fixed it with Camille then?" Luke looked sideways at Jacob.

"It's about time," was all the African muttered before he yelled at a driver before him who was rolling slowly through a green light. Just as he passed through and it was Jacob's turn, the light turned red. He leant on the horn again, swearing under his breath in a language Luke didn't know.

"Yeah, I did." Defiance in Moose's voice now and Luke guessed she was probably standing nearby. "But, back to my question: where do you wanna meet?"

Jacob glanced at Luke now, finally looking away from the road, and Luke answered catching Jacob's eye at the same time. "We'll come get you. Just get outside the dorm. We don't have much time and we gotta find the others." After Moose gave a gruff goodbye Luke hung up and frowned. "We better go get them, even though right now I'd rather anything over telling him what's been happening, especially considering he's clearly on a high from winning back his girl."

"He may have his suspicions, otherwise why would he call, so suddenly out of the blue?"

Typically sly in his words, Luke just frowned at his old friend. "You're obviously not telling me everything you know Jacob but you know what, go ahead, have your secrets. Right now all my worry is 'where are the crew sleeping tonight?'."

Jacob sighed. "And that is the only answer I do not have."

…

Camille frowned at the bitingly cold air outside as they stepped out into it, Moose leading the way determinedly and Camille following, still not completely sure exactly what was going on. When Moose finally stopped and crossed his arms, staring down the road, Camille decided to push for an answer.

"Moose, tell me, what's this all about?"

He turned and looked at her, that blank look returned to his face, and for a few seconds Camille worried she was about to be dismissed but then his shoulders slumped and he began to talk. "The Pirates are in trouble I think. Natalie, this girl who joined the team the same night I did, packed up and ran away. She was supposed to be homeless, moved from London to come live with a friend that never quite eventuated, but then she collected all of her belongings and was never seen again, well, not by me anyway." He thought back to that afternoon in the Vault. It had been only hours earlier but it felt like ages. How had everything gone wrong in such a small space of time? "This afternoon Luke got a text that she was having this huge birthday party at some rich guy's hotel." He shook his head. "We should've worked out something was wrong after that." He paused for a second, taking Camille in, then continued. "Luke wanted me to come with him, help him out, but I knew I couldn't stand you up again."

Camille nodded slowly. "Well, thanks, but that's only half the story. You've been dancing with these Pirates and this Luke guy. Is this why you left that Engineering exam early?"

Moose started to nod slowly and then stopped, looking up. "Wait, how did you know I left early?"

"I waited for you outside the room until your professor finally came out and told me you'd bailed ten minutes in." Her head fell. "I waited, like, two hours."

"Oh Cam," Moose breathed. "I'm so sorry." He took her hand in his. "If I'd known I…"

"What Moose? What could you have done?" Camille's tone should've been angry, the words suggested it, but instead she just looked deflated, like she'd given up.

"I'll make this up to you, I promise, no matter what I have to do." Touching her chin he lifted her head up to meet his eyes. "Okay?"

Camille gave a slight smile but it didn't reach her eyes. "If you say so."

A car horn stopped Moose from saying anything else and he looked up to see Luke's car rolling into the car park, Jacob in the driver's seat. Luke pushed open the passenger side doorway and kicked the passenger seat forward, ushering Moose into the back seat before following him in. Camille sat in the front next to Jacob, glancing back at Moose, as she closed the passenger door behind her.

"We've got a lot of catching up to do Moose-man." Luke gave Camille a smile and nod before turning to Moose. "You missed a lot."

Moose sighed. "I guess you better start at the beginning then." And then Luke began to talk, everything from the party to the Vault's requisition to the time in the lock-up. The whole time Camille just sat there, staring at her knees, wondering why she'd ever been brought along at all. All of this was above her, surely? She felt so helpless, sitting here in the car with two people she didn't know, and listening to Moose talk about people she'd never even heard of. The reality of how much of Moose's life she'd missed out on hit her and she wondered what it was that Moose could ever do that would fix this because suddenly one old dance in front of her college friends didn't seem to do enough…

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Okie-dokie artichoke, it seems I didn't get enough reviews to lord all over cinderstellabella yet so come on guys, one for team Kate-Emma? Y/N? No? Fine, I'll just go cry then. Cinderstellabella's up next. I have to go find some tissues!


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm finally updating! I worked really hard on this chapter but struggled a bit, so I hope you guys like it!**

**Disclaimer: Kate-Emma and I do not own the Step-Up franchise. Although, my birthday is in a few weeks and I think I have an idea of what to wish for when I blow out my candles...**

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The ride to the Vault seemed to drag on for Camille, who felt completely disconnected from her best friend and these two strangers. Everyone in the car was engaged in intense conversation; all except her, of course. She had felt left out the entire car ride, almost like she wasn't even there. It wasn't their fault really, she could sense that they were were all panicked over what was going on. Moose and Luke would argue every so often, only to be interrupted by Jacob. Actually, from what she had noticed, that was the only time Jacob really spoke.

"Camille, right?" Jacob flicked his eyes to her for a second then turned back to the road, putting on the turn signal.

"Yeah, that's me. I'm Moose's friend." She turned around to look at Moose, then quickly turned back around when she saw the two arguing again.

Jacob laughed and shook his head, stopping at a red light.

"I know who you are. We all do. Moose can't shut up about you. We've been nagging him to bring you around. From what he's told us, you're some dancer." Camille blushed and looked back out the window, focusing on the couple holding hands outside a 24/7 coffee shop.

"I used to be, I guess. But that was a long time ago." She shook her head slightly and looked back down at her hands, absentmindedly playing with the friendship bracelet Moose had given her for her 14th birthday. It had become a nervous habit of hers.

"Sweetheart, once a dancer, always a dancer." He drove the car forward a bit, only to meet up with a long line of cars. Only in New York can you find traffic at all hours.

"I was never very good. Moose, he's the dancer. I'm the support system." Jacob laughed again, looking out the window himself.

"I've seen you're brother, Camille. If he taught you even half of what he knows then you must be brilliant."

Camille snapped her head in his direction, a look of confusion upon her face.

"You know Ty? How?"

"Of course I do. That video from MSA travelled like wildfire. Every person in the dance community has seen it." He honked his horn, growing agitated at the unmoving traffic.

"Woah. I didn't know it was that big a deal. Well, actually I did. He is amazing. He taught me everything I know."

"Guys?" A voice piped up from the back. Camille had almost forgotten Luke and Moose's arguing, although she was pretty sure it had stopped a few minutes ago.

"Why are we stopped?" Moose placed his head between the driver and passenger seats, resting his hands on either side.

"Traffic, man. Hold on, I think I know a shortcut." Jacob put the gear shift into reverse and backed up as far as he could without hitting the car behind him, and then pushed it into drive, hitting the gas and speeding onto a side street.

Camille flung back into her seat and held on to the door, pinching her eyes shut. She hadn't witnessed driving this reckless since her and Moose's first driving lesson. Let's just say there's a reason he took the bus senior year.

The car came to a short stop, yet Camille still hadn't moved. She felt a hand grip her shoulder and she took deep breaths before finally opening her eyes.

Moose was squeezing her shoulder, Jacob was grinning at her, and Luke was laughing so hard he was clutching his stomach.

"What's so funny?" She managed to get out in a small voice, switching her focus to each of the faces in the car.

"We forgot to warn you about Jacob's...unique driving. We've all gotten used to it, you will too." Camille smiled lightly at Luke words, finally feeling like she was welcome.

"Cammie, you gonna make it?" Moose's face was surprisingly concerned and he absentmindedly rubbed his thumb on her shoulder. She pretended that it didn't make her heart race a hundred beats faster than normal.

She rolled her eyes at him and shrugged off his hand, her hand making it's way to the door handle.

"I'll be fine. C'mon, we've got bigger things to worry about."

The four stepped out of the car and into the cold winter air. As they started walking down the alley towards the Vault, Camille shivered. She instantly regretted not grabbing a jacket on the way out.

"Cold?" Moose went to take his jacket off and give it to her, but she placed a hand on his arm.

"The chivalry is nice, Moose, but keep your jacket. You'll be no use if you catch a cold. Plus, you know you're Mom will be down here in a heartbeat if you even sniffle." She laughed at her comment, pulling the jacket back on his shoulders.

A cold wind blew through and she wished she took his jacket. Instead, she hesitantly linked her arm through his, hoping it wouldn't make him feel uncomfortable.

"There. All better." She smiled up at him and he smiled back, only to be interrupted by Luke.

"Hey, lovebirds! Let's go!" The two blushed and picked up their pace to catch up, only to come to a abrupt halt when they did.

There, huddled by the back door, was the whole crew. Well, those who didn't leave them for the Samurai. They all looked like they were freezing, but they were there nonetheless.

"W..We've been t..trying to get i..in for hours. The p..padlock won't b...budge." Anala was stuttering through the whole sentence because of the cold and crossed her arms, attempting to bury her head deeper into her coat.

Camille looked at the people in front of her and her heart went out to them. They we're so dedicated to this crew, to Luke. They we're a family. And currently, this family had nowhere to go. She grew up in foster care, and she knew what it felt like to not know what's coming next.

"Luke, man, what are we gonna do? We can't go in and we can't sleep out here. We'll all get hypothermia." Jason huddled closer into the group, blowing into his hands.

"You can stay at the dorms!" Camille spat out. They all looked at her, surprised at the offer, but also that she had basically screamed it at them.

"Hun, that's a sweet offer, but we can't impose like that." Anala smiled at the younger girl, rubbing her hands together for warmth.

"No, I insist. You're staying. It won't be the most comfortable sleeping arrangements since my dorm is about the size of a closet, but it'll be temporary. I think Moose and I know someone who can help." She turned towards Moose and smiled at the confused expression on his face.

"Well, it's settled then," Jacob said, "everyone, into the car before we all catch pneumonia."

The crew made their way back towards the car and Camille followed, only to be pulled back by Moose.

"Cam, you didn't have to do that. But you're the best friend in the world for doing it." He shyly linked his hand in hers and she blushed.

"You mean I wasn't already?" He went to protest but she interrupted.

"Moose, I know what you meant. We'll figure this out, okay?" She squeezed his hand in reassurance and they started walking to catch up with the rest.

"Cam, you said we knew someone. Who?"

She smiled slyly at him and pulled out her cellphone, scrolling through her contacts. Once she found the right name, she handed him the phone.

He squinted to see the tiny letters, but smiled when he read it.

"Chameleon, you're a genius!"

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**Alright guys, tell me what you think! As I said before, I had a lot of trouble with this, I don't really know why, and I'd appreciate some feedback. Review please!**

**Kate-Emma's up next again. Stay tuned!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Mixing up the author's note here because this week I really want to thank my awesome partner-in-crime here miss cinderstellabella who is one of the hardest-working writers I know and never complains when I take ages to update or send the story in some completely random tangent (if it's no obvious yet, none of this is planned, we just write whatever comes into our heads next and if you know me then you know that is pretty random crap!) so yays be to cinderstellabella. We hope you're enjoying the story.

**Disclaimer:** Dear Jon Chu, my friend is having a birthday soon and she'd really love to own Step Up this year. Hoping you consider it, love Kate.

Dear Kate, bugger off, this is my multi-million dollar dance flick. Get your own. Regards, Jon.

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"You pack like sardines? This is stupid!" No one who was still half-asleep that morning, packed into Camille's shoebox dorm like the proverbial sardines they'd just been called, could get back to sleep after that rousing cry. "You can't dance with crushed knees and pelvis."

Moose smothered a smile as he entered the hall and noticed the two girls talking in the doorway. Camille had cast her eyes to the roof but the other, an energetic young dark-haired Asian girl, hadn't even noticed. Taking a few steps forwards as the Asian girl carefully illustrated the kind of damage a crushed pelvis can do to a dancer, Camille spotted him and visibly relaxed, motioning to him. The Asian girl turned and grinned. "'Sup Kido?"

"MOOSE!" She ran up and hugged him tightly, almost breaking his ribs, and Moose was tempted to suggest crushed ribs were just as bad as a crushed pelvis but she let him go and looked up at him with wide, almost sad eyes. "I miss you!"

Moose just laughed. "I missed you too." He led her back towards Camille. "The others up?"

"We are now," Anala muttered, walking past the doorway behind Camille. "So is this our saviour?" She tried to flatten her bright red hair but sleeping on the floor seemed to have doomed it and it wouldn't stay down. "Cos if she isn't then I'm going to start throwing punches for waking us up so early."

"Early?" Jenny Kido looked at her watch. "It 10am."

"That's early for this lot." Moose muttered before smiling at Anala. "She is indeed," he gave a warning frown. "So play nice."

Anala gave a half-hearted wave and walked away, quickly replaced in the doorway by Jason who was calmly pulling on a t-shirt, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "Where's the others?" They'd split the Pirates up between Camille and Moose's rooms, not that Moose could take too many since his rat-like dorm mate was paranoid the Pirates would steal some of his stuff. In the end Moose, Jacob, Luke and Rick had taken Moose's room while the others squashed into Camille's room. Her partner had packed up and left at the first available opportunity so Jason had stolen her bed and kicked anyone who tried to take it back off him. Anala had threatened to kill him four times before he threw a pillow at her face and told her to shut it.

"Sent them out for breakfast in the main canteen." Moose said, stepping around Camille and into the room. The crew looked so small down there on the floor, homeless and aimless and with nowhere to practice. They all looked up at Moose for leadership and he took a deep breath before he tried to muster up some courage to speak. "Everyone get dressed and wash up then meet in the main canteen in fifteen minutes. It's to the right at the end of the hall so just follow the signs. We have a lot to do if we're still going to take on the Samurais at World Jam." He looked back at Jenny and Camille. "Okay, rousing enough speech?"

Jenny laughed and Camille just gave him a warm smile. "Maybe leave the leadership stuff to Luke, yeah?" Tapping his shoulder Camille made a beeline for her wardrobe, stepping over the twins as they just started to wake. Moose watched as they grabbed her hand and tried to get her to talk but Camille just smiled and told them to hurry up and get dressed. Moose looked back at Jenny. "What would you like for breakfast?"

"You buy? Oh Moose, you a real gentleman!" Then, curling her arm around his elbow, she tugged him along to the canteen.

…

Luke had been pushing his eggs from the left side of his plate to the right when his phone gave a buzz and moved around on the table in front of him. The movement had caught Jacob's eye and he looked up from it to Luke then turned back to his meal, pretending not to be intrigued. Luke knew better and unlocked the phone, opening the SMS with a frown. After reading it once he pushed it across the table in front of Jacob. He read it aloud.

"'Confirmation the property named 'The Vault' has been sold to the highest bidder.'" Jacob sighed. "When the bank takes what they are owed what will we have?"

Luke shrugged. "Not much I guess. You know how these things work – the bank only ever sells it for what they need. Whoever bought it got it for a bargain." He took back the phone. "Nowhere to practice, no income, homeless and sleeping on the floor of a university dorm. This is the low point of my life."

"We still have World Jam and Moose says there is hope." Jacob continued but his heart didn't seem to be in his words. "If there's hope there's a chance right?"

"Optimism is one thing Jacob but I think w…" he stopped when his name was yelled across the hall and he looked up to see the Santiago twins walking and dragging a frowning Camille along with them. "Trust you two to find the prettiest girl in the place and kidnap her!" Luke called out to them.

Camille gave a shy smile before she noticed Moose and the Asian girl Moose had briefly introduced as Kido at the breakfast bar and escaped to go to them. "We are appreciative of beauty!" One of the twins, honestly Luke couldn't tell which one it was, gave a smile. "Plus, we're just guarding her for Moose's sake. He lets that girl out of his sight and we hurt him!"

Luke gave them a warm smile. "Good to know." He looked back down at his breakfast and the smile faded.

"You thinking of Natalie?" Jacob seemed to be able to read minds too and Luke gave a small nod, knowing it was useless to lie. "I am sure she never meant this to happen."

"Well whatever was meant to happen, her way or not, it's happened and she's at least partly to blame." He sighed. "The bigger part is me though. I don't know a way out of this."

"Lucky I do." Moose plonked down beside him on the bench and grinned at Jacob. "What would you do without me?"

"You said last night that you had a plan so just spit it out already."

Moose looked at Kido then stood up, addressing the whole crew.

"Is everyone here?"

Jason spoke up. "Anala's washing her hair but we can pass on the message."

Kido stood up beside Moose. "Not important. Important thing is – I have answer for problem." The canteen was crowded with university students and a lot looked up when Kido spoke. Her voice was like that. "I am Jenny Kido and my family run massive stall at amusement park. You know, like ring toss and clown an…"

Moose cut across. "Get to the point Kido."

"Oh yeah," she beamed. "Anyway, I have answer! Big plans. You leave problems with me! I have you new rehearsal space and place to sleep and, well, it all be okay." She nodded and then hopped down to finish her breakfast.

"You heard the woman – we have it sorted out. So finish your breakfast and then we're going to Kido's place." The group started speaking among themselves as Moose sat down again. He looked at Luke. "Really, it'll be fine, trust me."

Luke smiled and was about to speak when his phone went again. He assumed it was the real estate agent again but when he picked it up he saw it was actually a message from Natalie. He opened it quickly and read the single line inside.

'We need to meet, please, we have to talk. The park, an hour, I'll be near the balloon salesman.'

Luke closed the message and looked at Jacob. "Take the crew to see Moose's big plans, I have to go see Natalie, I need answers."

"What answers do you think she'll have?" Jacob frowned, lowering his voice so the others around him couldn't hear him. "It's pretty obvious it was Julian who brought the Vault, he's been threatening to for months." He shook his head. "Maybe it's Julian again? You shouldn't go."

"If it's Natalie then I want to know why she bailed me out, why she screwed us over, what she thinks will happen next. If it's Julian then," he pushed back his chair. "Well, let's just say you'll probably have to bail me out of jail again tonight." Then, before Jacob could protest, Luke walked away. Jacob, Moose and Camille all watched him go with a frown. Finally, with a sigh, Jacob turned back to his meal and Moose looked to Camille.

"I hope this works – Luke can't take much more bad news."

Camille held out a hand. "Give me your phone." She waved her fingers and Moose handed it over quickly. "I have another plan." She pushed herself out of her seat. "I'll meet you at Jenny's in," she looked at her watch. "About four. Give me a few hours." Then, his phone pressed to her ear, Camille left too. Moose just crossed his arms and went back to his breakfast.

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**Kido rules! She can dance too. Curse her for being awesome. Anyway, cinderstellabella comes up next so hold onto your hats.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys, cinderstellabella here! I have to apologize to both you readers and Kate-Emma. Finals have been brutal, but now I'm on break and have more time for writing!**

**Disclaimer: Kate-Emma and I still don't own anything. Christmas is coming...hmm.**

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"How many times are we all going to have to pile into this stupid car?" Anala threw her bag off her shoulder and at Jason, shimmying her way into the already cramped vehicle.

"Seriously, Luke, maybe it's time we get a new car. This ain't cutting it." Moose squeezed himself in next to Anala and tugged on Camille's hand to pull her with him.

"Cam, you're gonna have to sit on my lap." Moose patted his legs as a gesture for her to sit, and with a roll of her eyes she complied.

Camille had managed to not only get in contact with Kido, who agreed to let them crash in her parents' amusement park warehouse, but also got in contact with his former MSA crew. Moose knew a majority of them had agreed to come, with the exception of Andie and Chase. They were currently teaching at MSA and couldn't get away.

Moose felt Camille shift in her position on his lap and he looked up at her. He hadn't noticed how tired she looked this morning; she'd been on the phone after breakfast for at least three hours, and tried to get in contact with Kido the previous night. She didn't have to do all she had to help him and the crew, but she did, and he wanted to know why.

"You know I'm so grateful for everything you've been doing, right?" She shifted her eyes from out the window to look at his face and smiled softly down at him.

"I know."

"Yeah, well I don't think I've said thank-you yet. So thank-you. You didn't even have to do all that, but you did. Why?" Camille knitted her eyebrows in confusion and went back to looking out the window.

"Because I know you'd do the same thing for me," she sighed. "I know we haven't been the best of friends lately, but I know that if I ever had trouble like this, you'd be there to help in a heartbeat. You're my _best friend_, Moose. That's what best friends do." She smiled at him again and this time, he smiled back.

Just as he was about to respond, the car came to a screeching halt, causing everyone to jerk forward in their seats. Moose tightened his grip on her waist so she didn't fly through the windshield. Jacob's driving was quite scary, and he still wasn't sure if he'd ever get used to it.

"We're here!" Kido proclaimed from the front seat, earning a series of groans from the rest of the car.

"We figured. You only apply the break when you park the car, Jacob. I think someone else needs to drive next time." Jason rubbed the back of his head where he hit it against the roof.

Everyone exited, or more like fell, out of the car and all but Camille followed Kido to the entrance of the park. Moose looked back to where Camille had ran off to and noticed she was completely vanished, probably to get what she was on the phone for.

"Come on, this way!" Kido lead them in what appeared to be the back entrance to the park, probably meant for employees. She took them towards the door of a giant white building nestled in the corner of the lot. The faint sound of music and screaming filled everyone's ears.

Kido headed straight into the door without turning the lights on, leaving the rest of the crew to fumble their way through the building and hope they wouldn't trip.

"I don't mean to be rude, Ms. Kido, but how exactly is this going to work for dancing?" Jacob question as he bumped into something tall and cold.

"You wait!" They heard quick footsteps in the other direction.

As soon as the footsteps stopped, the entire place lit up and music started playing from a jukebox in the corner. It was a little cluttered, but if the whole crew chipped in and helped it would get cleared out.

"Guys, is this gonna work? There's way too much stuff in here to dance around..." The Pirates erupted into their own conversations. Moose was beginning to wonder the same thing. Would this all even work? Surely, they needed the Vault back. It was their home. If this all went wrong and the Samurai won, he would feel terrible.

Just then, a shrilling sound of a doorbell rang, and Moose immediately erupted into a smile.

"Guys, I thought we could use some help." He hit a large red button next to what looked like a garage door, and in came the former MSA crew, with Camille.

"Kido!" They all yelled, and she immediately ran forward to hug her former crew. Moose threw an arm around Camille's shoulder, squeezing he tightly next to him. She blushed, and Moose pretended like he didn't notice.

Moose glanced at the wary faces of the crew before him, and realized he needed to explain.

"We need more dancers. Guys, this is the MSA crew. MSA crew, meet the Pirates."

The Pirates still looked confused as ever, and Kido took this as her cue.

"Come on guys! Let's do this!" She back elbowed the jukebox to switch songs and nodded her head along to the beat.

One by one, he rattled off introductions until he got to Camille.

"And guys, I don't know if you know this, but Camille can dance too." Camille's faced turned from a smile to a frown and looked away.

"Oh no, I'm just hear to help. Not dance." Moose grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her to face him.

The Pirates and the MSA crew began to clear the place of random junk, sensing that the two needed privacy.

"Camille, we need you. _I _need you. Please, just dance with us. I know how much you miss it."

She tentatively bit her lip and avoided his eyes. She stared at the wall behind him for a minute before sighing and nodding her head.

"Fine. I'll do it. But after this, I'm back to no dancing."

Moose smiled and jumped up and down foolishly like a little girl, and Camille couldn't help but roll her eyes and laugh. He could be such a child sometimes.

Moose linked his arm with her's and turned towards everyone else.

"Alright, guys, let's do this!"

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**I know there was a lot of dialogue, so I apologize if there's too much. I didn't use the same words that they did in the movie, so I hope you all could kind of picture what was going on. Alright guys, reviews are majorly appreciated. Kate-Emma's up next, so get ready!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing!

**A/N: **Woo, happy New Year people! Sorry it took forever to update this, been enjoying my outrageously long holidays and not writing much, just watching far too much TV (damn you Vampire Diaries!). But, let's see if this doesn't suck!

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The trees above him rustled in a strong breeze as he waited, seated on a cement bench with his laptop beside him, just staring at the ground. Luke Katcher was tired, very tired in fact, and stressed. It wasn't just this business with the Samurai either, or the lack of rehearsal space, losing his parents' Vault, or even Natalie – it was all of it. Things like this never just came in ones or twos (or in this case even threes) they came in multiples of six or more. He was just so tired!

"Hey."

Her voice was soft, sounding just as tired and broken as he felt, but he didn't look up at her, just glancing away to her left, suddenly interested in a pigeon pacing up and down the concrete walkway, desperate for a feed. Something only slightly worse off than he. "What do you want Natalie?"

He noticed her take a seat on the step nearby, frowning up at him, an unreadable expression on her face. "I have a message from Julian."

Luke shook his head. "You're dancing with them now?"

"No… I just… he…" she fell silent, unable to tell him she went home to Julian, let him 'look after' her again. How was it that her family kept making her feel like a kid again? An aimless, useless child standing by and watching her parents fight, watching her father leave? She'd grown up counting on Julian, reliant on him for everything, he'd been her source of self-esteem and self-pride. He'd made her feel, when the other kids told her their father had left because of her (a kids' favourite taunt for children with split parents), like she could do anything. Never let the world hold her back.

The irony swept over Natalie like a wave of nausea.

So what was happening now?

She'd snuck out of the house to come see Luke, stolen the papers right off her brother's desk, and now she felt like a foolish teenager hiding from her parents. As if, when she returned, Julian would be standing in the doorway with his arms crossed going 'where have you been young lady?' and grounding her.

He was holding her back.

He was protecting her he said but she'd figured out a long time ago that wasn't it. He'd used her to get to Luke. He'd lied. And now her family, the Pirates, didn't even want her around. Her father had walked, her mother was nuts, her brother used her and the Pirates thought she was a liar. Did she have anyone left in this world?

"I'm not interested." Luke muttered gruffly. He was a bad liar. Natalie wanted to say 'if you weren't then you wouldn't be here' but that was cruel. She just nodded slowly.

"I know." They were silent for a moment then Natalie pulled the papers from her back pocket. "Julian brought the Vault." She held the deeds out and Luke took them from her slowly. "I assumed you knew that though." He nodded but said nothing. "I heard him talking to Carlos. He says he'll give you the Vault if you throw the World Jam battle."

Luke glared at the papers. "Of course he did." He pushed them back towards her. "Tell him no deal." The spite in his tone and the glare directed at her made Natalie's head sink. "We're going to win World Jam."

"And then what? He's not going to sell it back to you Luke. He's going to keep it, just to taunt you, just to say he still won." Natalie inched closer to him, imploring tone adopted, and Luke looked up with a frown. "I know how my brother thinks."

"Then we get a new place, a new club, so be it."

"That was your parents' club! You can't give it up like that, that easily."

Luke shook his head. "Easy? I don't know how easy works Natalie. I didn't grow up with an easy life." The suggestion was obvious… 'unlike you'. "I didn't get lavish balls for my birthday or brothers that gave me everything I wanted." Natalie shook her head, tears appearing in her eyes, and Luke looked away. After a minute of silence she stood up, making to leave, and Luke spoke again. "You bailed me out after the fight at your party." She nodded mutely. "Why?"

Her jaw shook as she looked back at him. "It's the least a useless little rich girl can do, isn't it?"

As she turned away guilt hit Luke and he stood. "Look, wait," he fished into his bag and withdrew a DVD case. "I made this because you said I should. You should at least see it." It was another copy of his movie, the first DVD broken at Natalie's party, and she took it off him slowly. "What did you mean when you told me to look at your dancing?"

"When I dance, I'm myself, I can be me." She took the DVD case and rolled in between her fingers slowly, her eyes trained on the ground, her voice soft and sad. "Whatever lies I told, that much was true, my dancing is true." She looked up quickly. "Good luck at World Jam. I won't be there to see it so…"

Luke cut her off. "What? I thought you were dancing with the Samurai?"

Natalie shook her head. "I can't dance with the Samurai when my heart is with the Pirates." Her head sank again. "I'm going to California." She slid the DVD case into her bag along with the Vault papers then clutched the bag closer to herself.

"When?"

"As soon as possible." She shrugged. "There's nothing to keep me here." She looked up at him slowly, waiting for him to say there was, he wanted her to stay. And though he knew he did, he should say it, Luke couldn't. She'd betrayed him. When he said nothing and looked at the ground she nodded. "Okay." Then, without another word, she turned and walked away. Luke watched her go with a frown.

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**Passing it back to cinderstellabella. Take it away babes…**


	12. Chapter 12

**cinderstellabella here, and I am so beyond sorry for the delay. I'm nearing the end of the school year and I have so much to do with absolutely no free time, and I hope you all can forgive me! Without further ado, here's chapter 12!**

**Disclaimer: Although I have taken a long absence, Kate-Emma and I still do not own anything.**

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"Where is Luke? It's been hours!" Moose tapped his food angrily against the floor of the warehouse, glancing at his phone screen for the fifteenth time since they cleared out the space. He was supposed to be coming along later, but he was almost three hours late and Moose couldn't help but be agitated.

"Moose, shut up. He'll be here." Camille flipped her ponytail over the opposite shoulder, stretching to the other side. They had all been warming up when Moose started to get antsy, and she knew he wasn't going to focus until their fearless leader arrived.

Just seconds after Camille got Moose to join them in stretching, the door slid open and Luke came running in, panting and placing his hands on his knees.

"Sorry guys," he threw his jacket off and it hit one of the couches in the corner, "I had to see a friend."

They all stood up, and Moose introduced him to the MSA crew. Camille couldn't help but notice the adoration he held for Luke. She knew Moose never had any siblings, so Luke was probably like a big brother figure to him. At one time, he had looked to Tyler as a brother, but when he left with Nora they had drifted.

"Alright guys, let's get started!" The statement received a loud burst of hoots and hollers, and they all got down to business.

Three hours later, the group had come up with the beginning of a solid dance routine. It hadn't been easy at first, considering all their styles and ideas seemed to collide, but after a while they began to use their differences to their advantage and worked together.

Camille grabbed a water bottle and sat down against the jukebox, wiping the sweat off her forehead with her sleeve. She missed dancing, just as Moose had said, and she was painstakingly aware that she probably should have never stopped.

She felt someone sit down next to her, and when she looked to her left, she noticed Cable staring at her with a big smile.

"What's up with you?" She took a long drink from the cold water bottle, placed the cap on, and threw it into her lap, turning towards him for an answer.

"You're still in love with him, aren't you?" Camille went wide-eyed at the question, stammering and looking down at her hands. She thought she did a pretty good job at concealing the feelings she had for Moose. Apparently not.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Cable scoffed, playfully punching her shoulder.

"Cam, you've had it bad for him for a long time. Everyone knows. Except for him." They both looked over to where Moose was, teaching the Santiago twins a rather complicated move.

Camille sighed. There was no use in denying it to Cable; she couldn't lie to him. She'd known him almost as long as she'd known Moose.

"He's oblivious, probably always will be. I mean, he has been acting differently around me lately, but you know him. Every time I think he returns the feelings I have, he does something that proves me wrong." She tilted her head, still watching Moose, and took in the way he danced. She hadn't actually watched him dance in a while, and it was nice to see him so happy again. She knew that engineering was never what he truly wanted to do.

"Cam, you need to just tell him. Before you lose him. Again." He instantly regretted saying what he did after she winced. She knew exactly what Cable was referring to. The Sophie thing was a rather sensitive subject for her, and she didn't like to be reminded when she lost her best friend to the fire-breathing dragon.

Cable gave her an awkward pat on the back before standing and joining Jason, who was trying to figure out the suits for the battle.

Camille took a deep breath and stood too, walking over to where Moose was. The Santiago twins saw her coming and insisted she dance with them. She agreed, since she couldn't find a good excuse not to, and watched Moose walk away, a weird expression on his face. She was spun around by one of the twins and laughed, following his lead and taking a chance at learning the tango.

Moose walked over to Luke and flopped down on the couch next to him. He'd been feeling so many different things about Camille lately, and his head was spinning. As bad as it was, he hadn't actually noticed she was a girl until recently, and kept getting jealous of any guy within a twenty-mile radius of her.

"You've got it bad, man," Luke said, interrupting Moose's thoughts. He turned to his friend and looked at him, shaking his head and running a hand through his curls.

"I know. And I don't even know when it happened. One day, I was studying with her, and the next I had the urge to kiss her every time she looked in my direction." Luke laughed and shook his head, slapping Moose on the back.

"Girls are confusing, Moose," he agreed, slapping his hands over his face, "but I wouldn't let that one get away with the history you have. It was probably only a matter of time before you fell in love with her."

Moose's thoughts stopped dead in their tracks. Love? That was a strong word. But glancing over at Camille, he felt a weird churn in his stomach. She looked happy, smiling and laughing while the twins spun her in circles.

Damn it. He was in love with his best friend.

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**Hope you guys liked it! It's not my best, I know, but it took so long for me to write. Review please! & get ready, cause Kate-Emma's up next!**


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